Spent a long time researching this my first "hi-res" digicam purchase.
We wanted a compact, portable camera with a decent quality zoom
lense (the more zoom the better) and manual overrides for everything.
Above all it needed to be FAST. (Have found digicam slowness
immensly irritating when you are used to a 35mm SLR).
After reading about and comparing Fuji S5000 (much too slow), Kodak
6490 (too big, no external flash shoe) and Canon (too big and too
expensive) I settled for the DSC-V1 with some misgivings at first.
Cons: It is difficult to hold being so small, I tend to steady it with the
left hand and end up preventing the flash from popping up.
It feels a bit light-weight and plasticky compared to others but seems to
be well assembled.
The memory sticks are expensive
... but after 3 weeks and a 300+ pictures, mostly in low light, difficult
conditions - I am convinced it was the right choice.
The only time it took a bad picture was when I tried ISO800, with no
flash and couldn't hold it still!
The Pros: It is incredibly fast to focus and shoot.
The AF seems completely fool proof.
Shutter lag is barely noticable so "candid" snaps of busy kids are easy
to capture.
On the same note - it powers up very quickly too.
On the whole, considering the price barely over $500 - it is a bargain
and should not disappoint anyone who wants a near pocket sized "point
& shoot" that works in a wide range of conditions and takes high
quality, high resolution pictures.
Problems:
Only real criticisms are:
Flash re-charge seems slow. Must try it with external flash.
Menus & icons are not intuitive. You need to read the manual but once
you know what to press, access to change settings is rapid.
Pictures seem a bit over-color-saturated - especially reds and greens. Not
offensively so - but not as natural as the color on our 3 yr old 2MP
Canon Powershot.
It is really tough to hold it still! A bigger grip & some more weight
would help - but not much as it's small size is a big asset.
Note to Sony.....use AA batteries to add weight & reduce cost!
We wanted a compact, portable camera with a decent quality zoom
lense (the more zoom the better) and manual overrides for everything.
Above all it needed to be FAST. (Have found digicam slowness
immensly irritating when you are used to a 35mm SLR).
After reading about and comparing Fuji S5000 (much too slow), Kodak
6490 (too big, no external flash shoe) and Canon (too big and too
expensive) I settled for the DSC-V1 with some misgivings at first.
Cons: It is difficult to hold being so small, I tend to steady it with the
left hand and end up preventing the flash from popping up.
It feels a bit light-weight and plasticky compared to others but seems to
be well assembled.
The memory sticks are expensive
... but after 3 weeks and a 300+ pictures, mostly in low light, difficult
conditions - I am convinced it was the right choice.
The only time it took a bad picture was when I tried ISO800, with no
flash and couldn't hold it still!
The Pros: It is incredibly fast to focus and shoot.
The AF seems completely fool proof.
Shutter lag is barely noticable so "candid" snaps of busy kids are easy
to capture.
On the same note - it powers up very quickly too.
On the whole, considering the price barely over $500 - it is a bargain
and should not disappoint anyone who wants a near pocket sized "point
& shoot" that works in a wide range of conditions and takes high
quality, high resolution pictures.
Problems:
Only real criticisms are:
Flash re-charge seems slow. Must try it with external flash.
Menus & icons are not intuitive. You need to read the manual but once
you know what to press, access to change settings is rapid.
Pictures seem a bit over-color-saturated - especially reds and greens. Not
offensively so - but not as natural as the color on our 3 yr old 2MP
Canon Powershot.
It is really tough to hold it still! A bigger grip & some more weight
would help - but not much as it's small size is a big asset.
Note to Sony.....use AA batteries to add weight & reduce cost!